


Poisonous

by EllieMurasaki



Category: Whodunnit? (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, Drabble Sequence, Gen, yumadrin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-23
Updated: 2013-12-23
Packaged: 2018-01-05 15:43:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1095748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EllieMurasaki/pseuds/EllieMurasaki
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How an ordinary magically gifted child turned into the Whodunnit? killer.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Pupilage

**Author's Note:**

  * For [seekingferret](https://archiveofourown.org/users/seekingferret/gifts).



> Thanks to rabidsamfan for betaing.

Maybe it started when Cris was four. A spider scuttled across her book. She shrieked, and it stopped moving. Her mother came running, grabbed a sandal, and swatted the spider. "It's okay, baby doll," she said, "it's dead. It can't hurt you now."

* * *

Maybe it started when Cris was six. Ellen's big black dog, Bruce, was sick. Cris petted Bruce, and Bruce lay down and closed his eyes. Then he stood up, leaving his body behind. "It's okay," Cris told Ellen. "He's not sick or hurt anymore."

Ellen started crying.

"What's wrong?" Cris asked. "Don't you see him standing there?"


	2. Persecuted

Bruce stayed with Cris for a long time.

"You'd rather play with your imaginary friend 'Bruce' than with real people," said Olivia with air quotes. "We don't want to play with you either!"

Cris cried. Zahia saw. "It's okay," Zahia said. "I can be your friend. Olivia doesn't like me either."

"I'd like that," said Cris.

"Maybe we could trade books?" Zahia offered, holding out _The Oathbound_ and _Magic's Pawn_.

Cris pulled out _The Complete Sherlock Holmes_ and _And Then There Were None_.

"Everybody dies," said Zahia. "That's creepy."

Zahia and Olivia stayed with Cris for a long time, too.


	3. Peace

"I don't think you actually understand how good you've got it, Cris," said Olivia. "You get to _go to prom_."

"You get to _take math tests_ ," said Zahia in the exact same tone of longing.

"If you want to take my math test for me, fine by me," said Cris. "And nobody's keeping you from coming to prom."

"You know, it's a good thing you're pretty," said Zahia.

"Do whatever you like," said Cris, irritated. "Just shut up about it."

Zahia was silent for a week. When Cris asked about Zahia's uncharacteristic silence, Olivia said, "You said to shut up."


	4. Pythagorean

In a right triangle, the hypotenuse _c_ equals ten inches, and the sine of one angle _A_...

"Which one was the hypotenuse again?" Cris asked.

"The triangle's longest side," Zahia said, irritated.

"And what does 'sine' mean?"

"Opposite over hypotenuse," Zahia said through gritted teeth.

Cris slammed her textbook shut. "If it's that important to you, why don't you take the test yourself?"

"That's cheating," said Zahia. She leaned through Cris and slammed the textbook back open.

An idea sparked. Cris grinned. "Why _don't_ you take the test yourself? Here, study."

That week, Cris got her first A in math.


	5. Priceless

Cris's necromantic gifts didn't include the ability to con rich people into changing their wills in her favor, or to play the stock market. Those were all Cris.

But being able to kill said rich people undetectably and at a distance, while doing something else with several someones else—being able to kill anyone personally without anyone noticing anything wrong until someone asked the walking corpse to do something requiring much thought—being able to bind the ghosts into her service—

 _Armed and Dangerous: a Writer's Guide to Weapons_ : twelve dollars. _HowDunit: the Book of Poisons_ : nineteen dollars. Magic: priceless.


	6. Planning

Cris using her magic for the actual kills in Rue Manor would be cheating. But the ghosts already bound into her service—and naturally everyone who died in this game would join their number—could assemble the puzzles for her and her guests. The puns, and the execution of the executions, were entirely her own.

* * *

Cris always meant Sophie and Beatrice to survive—and herself, of course. The winner, whoever it ended up being, was meant to die on their way out of the mansion, along with Giles and the police.

* * *

Maybe Cris wasn't the only mage in Rue Manor.


End file.
